Halloween Show
by rowanrawr
Summary: The audience screamed as she brought her hand down on his face, blood streaming from the wound. Pre-book. Contains some suggestive themes and horror. Happy Halloween!


Happy Halloween! Here's a completely out-of-character story for you all! Enjoy!

* * *

Halloween was a huge event for the Cirque Du Freak. The show they put on was extra special, more horrifying and gruesome than usual, with people coming from all over to witness the event. All of the performers and helpers were excited, and the air buzzed with anticipation.

It was Arra's first experience of Halloween with the cirque since joining a few months ago with her mate. The usually stern and reserved man practically bounced around their trailer with excitement, unable to hide his joy. "We could put on a most amazing act!" he grinned, his eyes bright. She could see his mind whirring away with ideas.

She didn't know whether to feel proud of herself or worried that she had suggested that perhaps she could help with his performance the next night. The cirque life had got to her, she supposed, along with the tangible excitement running through the air. It couldn't hurt, just once, to embrace the circus life, and Larten looked so happy that she could hardly back out now.

"What do you think we should do?" he asked, taking her hands as he sat down next to her. "We could use our strength and speed, somehow. Though I would still like to use Madam Octa..."

Arra wasn't terribly keen of the spider, but respected that his whole performance relied on the creature. "You're the expert. I'm game for whatever you decide," she offered, though the glint in his eye made her almost retract the statement.

He grinned wickedly, but then his eyes narrowed and his smile turned almost playful. "You know," he began slowly, "we would need to find something for you to wear. You could not possibly perform without an outfit."

_Damn it_. It was the only aspect of performing she had forgotten to factor in. She knew Larten was teasing her and decided to play along with his little game for a while. "So long as it's nothing as _garish_ as that suit you wear," she replied innocently, but raised a brow, daring him to counter.

"Garish?" Larten exclaimed, jumping up and gesturing with his hands at the red performance suit he was so proud of, hung up neatly on the back of the door. Arra shrugged and nonchalantly walked over to the trunk that held her very limited items of clothing, thumbing through them, a look of pretend deliberation on her face.

Larten smirked at her back. The atmosphere of the cirque had caught him at dusk, and he was feeling happier and more excited than he had done for a while. He was also proud of his mate for offering to join in with his act. His heart had filled with joy, and he loved just that little bit more, something he didn't think was possible. The whole night had been perfect so far and he was feeling a little bold and more than a little playful.

He hummed thoughtfully, moving to stand right behind her. "If you believe this suit is so awful, why is it you are always so _eager_ to have your hands on it?"

"Am I?" she threw back, not turning to look at him, "I hadn't noticed."

"You are," he assured her, reaching round to hold her hands still. "Even more _eager _to tear the whole thing off me," he whispered in her ear, feeling he had won their little game, expecting to feel her shiver slightly.

Instead, Arra just grinned, "Exactly," and proceeded to remove herself from his grip. Larten blinked, not quite sure what had just happened, taking a moment for her answer to sink in and become clear. He turned to look at her, perched on the edge of the table, smiling innocently at him. He had forgotten just how exasperating she could be.

"What about this?" she asked, holding up a red dress. Larten had been so caught up in her that he hadn't noticed that she was even holding it. The thing was a little worse for wear, but it matched his blood red suit perfectly. He was touched by the thought she was obviously putting into the situation, knowing full well that she despised wearing dresses, and especially dresses in the colour red. She never wore anything brighter than the occasional white shirt.

"That would be perfect," he smiled.

"Great!" she threw it over their coffin and grabbed his hand, pulling him over to the table, "Let's start planning our act, then!"

* * *

"You are extremely brave for volunteering, sir," Larten praised, leading the audience member to the chair in the middle of the stage. He was an arrogant young man with an over-confident grin on his face. Arra had picked him out, silently directing Larten to their victim from the side of the stage. He had fought to hide his smirk as the man had declared that he wasn't afraid of anything, let alone a tiny little spider.

"If you could just take a seat, and remember to sit perfectly still and stay perfectly quiet," Larten instructed, positioning Madam Octa on top of the man's head. He silently instructed the spider to crawl slowly down over the man's face and sit there for a moment. The man didn't even flinch, and Larten supposed that perhaps he wasn't afraid of spiders at all. Though that would all change soon enough.

The spider left his face and moved to his neck and right on cue a loud bang rang out from the side of the stage. Larten pretended to jump, shocked at the noise, and – from the audience's point of view – lost control of Madam Octa. The spider sunk her teeth into the man's neck and then swiftly crawled away, back into her cage that Mr Tall held open at the back of the stage.

The audience gasped. The vampire's victim had gone pale, and hand to his neck, the smirk wiped right off his face. "Not to worry, sir!" Larten shouted, causing many people to jump, including the man, "The venom will not take hold for a few minutes. You are perfectly safe. I have the antidote right here!" and he whipped the small bottle out of his pocket and held it high for all to see. The audience let out a collective sigh of relief, and then a second later another shocked gasp, as they watched the bottle disappear from Larten's hand.

The vampire pretended to double-take, faking the same shock the audience felt, and let his eyes slide around the room before settling on his mate, stood above them all on a rather precarious looking beam. The audience followed his gaze, another collective gasp leaving them, though this time with a few shrieks.

Larten fought hard to contain his amusement as Arra's appearance gained the desired reaction. He admitted silently that she had out-done herself and allowed himself a moment to admire her. The dress looked wonderful on her, even if she had smudged coal into it to make it more tattered and worn. More coaled stained her skin, accenting her cheek bones to give her a gaunt appearance, and combined with the blood that rimmed her eyes and the dead stare that was just visible beneath her tussled hair she looked truly terrifying. Larten wished Gavner were here to see her. Their friend would have loved this.

Arra held the bottle out between two fingers, taunting and daring him to take it from her. Larten stepped up and forced his expression into one of grim determination, and then jumped high and fast, landing on the same beam Arra was balancing on. The audience below were completely captivated, and even the man seemingly forgot his dire situation, as he sat open mouthed, staring at the pair above him. Larten winked subtly at his mate, and she gave the ghost of a smile before darting away from him, dodging his pounce.

The vampire took the time to look around, confused, and the audience ate it up. Some of them shouted up to him, pointing to the front of the stage, where Arra was now sitting, twirling the bottle between her fingers. Larten could see she was trying hard not to grin.

The bitten man acted exactly as they hoped he would. He jumped up and grabbed the back of the chair, swinging it forcefully at Arra. The audience gasped once again, but the chair went through thin air, Arra having flitted away in an instant. She was now behind the man, one hand raised to strike him down. The man froze, petrified, as his eyes fixed on her own.

Larten jumped down at the last moment and landed between the pair, knocking his mate backwards. "Please, sir," he said, his tone that of someone talking to a child, his gaze intentionally on the man behind him, "stay back. This woman is very dangerous. Let me handle-" he was cut off as Arra knocked him to the floor, pinning him down.

The audience were panicking now, shouting and screaming, begging for it to stop. The man had fallen to his knees, watching in despair as Arra crushed the bottle of antidote in her hand, letting the pieces fall onto Larten's chest. He was proud of her then for staying so in character, not even flinching when the glass cut into her palm, her dead eyed gaze never straying from his.

She raised her hand above him and the audience went wild, seeing what was about to happen and being unable to do anything to prevent it. Larten tried to push her away, but failed and shouted out as her hand came down at his face. The blood from her hand smudged the paint that had been hiding his scar and coloured it red in the blink of an eye, too fast for the humans to see. He cried out as if in pain, blood trickling down his face from his 'new' scar, and seemed to gain some strength as he finally managed to push Arra away from him.

And as they had planned, Mr Tall came out from the back of the stage with an open coffin. "Now, Larten!" he shouted and the vampire jumped up to face his mate. He really was impressed with her, standing there seemingly frozen, looking as if she really had just arisen from the grave, and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her back into the coffin. Unseen to the audience, he kissed her quickly before jumping away and letting Mr Tall close the coffin with a loud bang.

Their victim was still kneeling on the stage, his face full of horror as he looked at Larten and the blood dripping down his face. The man's eyes strayed to the coffin, which was being padlocked and chained, and his hand went to his neck again. The audience were silent, though Larten could feel the fear radiating from them. He walked slowly to the man, managing to stumble slightly, as if he was suffering from his wound.

"You are lucky, sir," Larten began, his eyes travelling from his victim to the audience, "that I milked the poison out of that spider before the show."

After a few beats of silence the audience exploded into wild applause, shouting and laughing loudly in relief. The man on the stage looked horrified but joined in with the laughter slowly as he came to his senses, realising he was no longer in danger of dying. Larten helped him to his feet and showed him back to his seat, and then took his place on centre stage and bowed low, smiling at the reaction from his audience.

* * *

"You were magnificent," Larten told his mate after the show. Dawn was breaking outside, but it was nice and dark in their trailer, the outside noises ignored easily.

Arra smiled, "It was all you," she replied and would have said more but was cut off by his lips on hers. Larten couldn't have possibly loved her more than he did in that moment. He was beyond proud of her for her performance, and had been stunned when, as the audience filed out, had caused more mischief. Mr Tall had left the coffin in the exit way, so people would have to pass by it, but had informed them all was well and safe, allowing them to touch the carvings on the wood and check the chains.

His mate had still been inside and after scratching quietly on the inside of the wood in response to the people outside had caused their victim from earlier to very nearly have a heart attack. Mr Tall had brought him aside and thanked him for his cooperation, signalling to Arra that the man was right outside. Larten wished he had been there as she screamed loudly and kicked the door of the coffin. He wished he had seen the man stumble back in fear and run out of the building in a panic, shouting all the way. The other cirque members had told him about it afterwards, and he was filled with so much pride that he had left the after-party and set off in search of his mate.

He had found her in their trailer, washing the smudges of coal and blood from her skin. Arra had looked up as he entered and grinned, but hadn't been able to say one word before Larten had kicked the door shut and crossed to her in the space of a second, pinning her against the wall and rendering her completely useless as his mouth found hers.

"But it was all your idea," Arra continued, breaking Larten out of his thoughts.

"But you were the one who stole the show," he countered, grinning softly. He put his arms behind his head and stared up at her, his eyes full of admiration.

Arra blushed a little and shrugged. "It was pretty fun, actually," she admitted, her eyes bright. "Do you think we could do it again, another time?"

Larten nodded with a smile and pulled her back down.

* * *

Such a weak ending, I know, but hey, overall I'm pretty happy with this! I hope you guys enjoyed it too! I'd love to hear your thoughts.


End file.
